Ultimate Superman
by The Blue Eyed Devil
Summary: here is my stab at an ultimate Superman. This is the story of Clark Kent, the last son of Krypton, who would become the Earth's greatest champion
1. Man of Tomorrow, prologue

Some where farther than any distance found on Earth, in a pocket of the Milky Way galaxy, is a planet not that much bigger than the third rock from our sun. The name given to it by its people is Krypton. The fourth planet from a red sun, Krypton had given birth to a race of men and women with incredible scientific ability. These people created things that will not be seen anywhere else in the universe for some time. For all of their brilliance however, only one of them saw the terrible plight that was about to destroy their planet. And now Krypton's most brilliant man was in a race against time to save his only child.

            "I won't loose you too Kal" Jor-El said. Jor-El never thought he would ever be going against his people like this, but he had no choice. His son's life was at stake. In his arms, his 9 month old son some how slept as a cold wind whipped around.  Jor-El's black hair rustled in the breeze as his long black and white robe pressed against him. Her pulled the red blanket that was around his sons tighter, hoping to shield his son from the weather.

            Jor-El hurried along the busy streets of city, cars flying overhead and people walking past him. He felt like some aquatic creature fighting against a torrential current as he pushed his way though the crowds.

            "Hey! Watch it!" Someone cried out.

            "I'm sorry" Jor-El exclaimed as he continued past, not even looking back at the person he had bumped into. Suddenly Jor-El caught sight of his own reflection in the window of a shop. Something inside him stirred and he could not look away. A short beard of black stubbly hair covered his face and his hair was a mess; he was a shell of the man his wife had loved in her life. He sighed as the thought of her memory crossed his mind. In his panic, he has almost forgotten the pain of her loss.

            "**_Oh Lara, how these last months have been a struggle without you_**" Jor-El thought as he looked up at the sky to see green lightning bolt flash across it. "**_The only thing that hurts me more now is that I will not live to see my son become the man I know he will grow to be_**". Jor-El ran as quickly as he could now, sprinting towards the military base that was not too far. "**_If only they had listened to me!_**" Jor-El's mind flashed back to mere hours ago.

            "What do you mean the core is unstable?" the head of the Ruling Council had asked Jor-El after he had told them of what was going to happen.

            "Impossible" another cried out.

            "The core has become radioactive!" Jor-El cried frantically again. "That is the cause of the strange weather that has been plaguing our world these past weeks"

            "The weather is the result of solar flares" another member proclaimed.

            "No!" Jor-El exclaimed. "I believe the radiation from the flares that have been recorded recently have caused Krypton's core to…to…change!"

            "Jor-El, this is impossible" the head of the council said firmly. "Jor-El, my friend, you must calm yourself. Since your wife's death, you have…lost your senses."

            "Do not talk down to me Enn-Rir" Jor-El exclaimed angrily. "Why will you not listen to me!? Our planet will explode in a matter of hours!"

            "Then why has no one else seen any evidence of this Jor-El?" A council member to Jor-El's right said.

            "Because no one is looking for it" Jor-El answered.

            "Enough" The head of the council said. "We will hear no more ramblings from a broken man".

            "**_Fools_**" Jor-El thought to himself. "**_Thousands could have been saved if they had listened to me, maybe even millions._**" Jor-El stopped as his destination came into view; The Kryptonian Armed Forces Deep Space Port. Jor-El stood in an alley, his eyes locked on the lone guard standing before the gate. Jor-El looked at his son Kal, and then began walking towards the gate to the Space Port. The guard saw him approaching and walked to meet him half way.

            "Excuse me sir, this is a government facility" the guard said. "Only authorized personnel are allowed past the-" Jor-El had struck the man before he could draw his gun and knocked him out cold. Jor-El bent down and grabbed the small energy pistol that was buckled on the guard's belt and charged it in case he would need to use it. Jor-El reached into the guard's station and pressed the button to open the gate. Jor-El watched as the large door began to slide to the left. Before he could enter the grounds though, a small vehicle landed only a few steps from his position. Jor-El looked back for a moment to see the man he hated most step out of it. It was Zod, his brother and military advisor to the Ruling Council. He had been present during Jor-El's desperate plea to the Ruling Council.

            "Jor, stop where you are" Zod shouted. Jor-El froze where he was standing.

            "Do not try and stop me Zod" Jor-El said. "I will not let you stop me from saving my son's life". Jor-El turned and aimed his gun at Zod. However, Zod was holding a small boy and a baby girl in his arms.

            "I have come to help you" Zod told him.

            Moments later the two brothers found themselves walking through the empty halls of the Space Port, their children all cradled and sleeping.

            "Where is everyone?" Jor-El asked.

            "The Ruling Council declared that everyone go back to their homes due to the increase in the violent weather over the last few hours" Zod told him. "Everyone was ordered indoors".

            "I told you all" Jor-El remarked bitterly. He turned a cold eye to his brother. "Why are you here?" Jor-El grabbed Zod's arm and forced him to stop where they were.

            "Because I believed you" Zod said, stuttering slightly on his words. He did not want to admit this to Jor-El.

            "Then why did you not stand up for me in front of the council" Jor-El growled. "Does your hatred for our house go that deep!"

            "Because, like the Council, I believed you were a fool," Zod told him. "That was till I went to your home and found your notes." Jor-El looked at his brother's black eyes for a moment before shaking his head and continuing on. "The stasis pods are here" Zod informed Jor-El as he pointed to a door not too far ahead.

            Several hours later, Jor-El was finally finished attaching the warp engines to two stasis pods. The tools that Jor-El had used littered the floor around them.

            "Do you believe they will be safe on this planet you found?" Zod asked as he looked down at his sleeping son and daughter in the chamber.

            "I'm sure of it" Jor-El said confidently. "They will be more than fine".

            "What do you mean?"

            "Nevermind" Jor-El responded as he placed his son in the other stasis pod. Jor-El wrapped the large red blanket Kal had over Kal's entire body. The Symbol of the El House was painted in gold over his son's body. Jor-El reached into one of his pockets and pulled out a metal orb not much bigger than his fist. He placed it inside a compartment on the side of the pod chamber.

            "Seems like me and you think alike" Zod said. Jor-El looked up and saw his brother holding an orb. Zod placed the orb in his children's compartment, and then shut the pod. He and Jor-El activated the pods almost simultaneously. A loud hiss filled the room as the machines put the children into a death-like slumber. Jor-El silently looked down at his son for a moment.

            "You are sure that no vessel large enough to hold all of us will outrun the explosion?" Zod asked.

            "I'm sure" Jor-El answered gravely. "The weight would keep us from achieving enough speed to jump to hyperspace in time". Zod ran his hand down the face of his children's pod.

            "Kara is younger than your son Jor" Zod said. A silent pause fell over the room as Jor-El looked at his brother for the first time in long time and did not want to attack him.  "I wish I could have seen what they become."

            "I do to" Jor-El replied. Suddenly a violent tremor shook the ground.

            "Has it begun?!" Zod exclaimed.

            "It must have" Jor-El answered. "We must hurry!"

            The brothers worked together to get the pods onto a cart, and moved as quickly as they could to the launch pad. As they exited the building, Zod looked up and saw the sky flash several times with green lightning in the span of a few seconds.

            "Quickly Zod!" Jor-El yelled over the thunder. Another tremor ripped through the area as the brother set up the pods in the center of the launch pad. Jor-El knelt down and began to punch in coordinates into the computer built into the engine he had attached to the pod. Once they were set, he input a command and the engine began to ignite.

            "Rao!" Zod exclaimed. "This damned computer is not working!" As Kal-El's ship began to lift off, Jor-El sprinted to the other pod. He put the coordinates in as quickly as he could and pulled his brother away as it ignited. Seconds later, the two brothers were watching as their children flew off towards the sky. The ground began to shake violently. Jor-El turned towards his brother and put his hand upon Zod's shoulder. The two locked eyes as the ground began to rip apart.

            Kal's ship rocketed through Krypton's atmosphere. Below him, canyon sized cracks began to permeate through the crust of the planet. Not far behind it, the second ship was following in suit. 

With a magnificent burst of light, Krypton exploded. The ships zoomed past the second moon as rubble began to fly past them. Suddenly the engine of Kal's ship began to glow. A moment later, a white portal opened, and the ship blasted off into hyperspace. The second ship's engine began to glow, but before the portal opened, a wave of radiation caught up and passed over the ship. The ship wavered slightly as it shot off into the unknown.


	2. Man of Tomorrow, part 1

It was a beautifully clear July night on the fateful day Jon and Martha Kent were driving down the near deserted road on the outskirts of Smallville Kansas to their home. They had gone into to town to do some light shopping, and Martha was quite satisfied with the three vases she had managed to buy from the antique shop. Jon looked over to his lovely wife, her short brown hair falling just past her jaw. Her bright brown eyes returned his gave with a soft smile, when she noticed a shooting star.

"Jon, look," She said pointing to the sky. Jon smiled as he looked at it.

"Make a wish" he told her.

"You know what my wish is" Martha said. Jon smiled, it was his wish as well.

"If god wants us to have a child Martha, he will" Jon told her. "Trust me, its gonna happen soon".

As they continued down the road, Martha looked up and saw that the shooting star had now turned into one, big, bright ball of light in the night sky.

"What the hell" she remarked as the ball of light came falling from the clouds. The star landed a split second later and a large explosion sent a shockwave through the surrounding area.  The Kents' truck was knocked off one side, dangling on two wheels for a moment before landing hard on all four once again. Every window in the truck shattered, along with Martha's new vases in the flatbed. Jon looked over at his wife. Martha was shaken, but she seemed okay.

"What was that?" She asked her husband.

"I have no clue" Jon answered. He opened his door and hopped out. He began making his way towards the smoking crater.

"Jon! What are you doing!"

"I'm seeing what just fell from the gosh dang sky Martha" Jon yelled back. Martha didn't feel right letting her husband do it alone, so she got out of the truck as well. "Martha, what are you doing?"

"I don't want you to get hurt" Martha said. Jon didn't respond. His eyes seemed locked onto something within the crater. When Martha arrived to the spot next to him, she saw what had stolen his attention. In the center of the crater was a long, metal pod with a rocket engine on the back. What was stranger though, was that Martha could see a crying baby through the window of the pod.

"Oh my god!" Martha exclaimed. She instantly began descending for the pod.

"Martha! What in god's name are you doing?" Jon asked.

"Can you not see the baby!" Martha said in a panic. Jon locked his eyes onto the pod again, and sure enough, there was the baby's face in the window. Jon began climbing down as Martha reached the pod.

"How do I open it?! How do I open it?!" she screamed. Jon reached her side and put his arms around her to calm her.

"Calm down" He repeated several times. "There is no need to panic, lets see if we can't figure out what is going on". Jon began examining the pod as Martha bent over and touched her hand to the glass.

"It's ok" She said soothingly. The baby locked eyes with her and soon began to calm down. "That's it…that's it".

"Lets see what this does" Jon said as he pulled a latch on the hull of the ship and opened it. There was a loud hiss for a moment before the pod latch lifted up. Jon pushed it open completely, and the young married couple just stood there looking down at the little baby wrapped in a red blanket with a large, golden "S" symbol.

Back at their home, The Kents sat at their kitchen table with the baby sitting on the edge in front of Martha.

"What are we going to do with him?" Martha asked.

"I don't know" Jon told her. "I really have no idea". The two sat their for a moment without speaking as Martha gave the baby raspberries on his tummy, much to his enjoyment.

"What should we name him?" Martha asked.

"Martha, he isn't ours…hell, we don't even know if he is human" Jon said.

"What do you mean, look at him, how could he not be human" Martha remarked. Jon gave her a stare of disbelief, then got up and walked to the window and raised the blinds, giving an extremely clear view of the space ship in the back of their truck.

"That doesn't look like anything I've ever seen on this planet Martha" He exclaimed.

"I know" Martha said.

"We have to tell the police" Jon said.

"Why?"

"Because it is the right thing to do" Jon said.

"What are you going to tell them?" Martha asked.

"The truth" Jon told her after a moment. Martha gave a disheartened look to the child, who almost instantly mimicked her grimace.

The next morning, The Kents and their visitor went to the Smallville police department. It took some time, but Jon finally received the time of a desk officer.

"Tell me your name" the officer asked.

"Jonathan Kent" he answered. Jon's eyes roamed over to Martha and the baby.

"And what is it you are reporting?"

"Me…" Jon paused as he watched Martha interact with the baby. Both of them had the biggest smiles in the world. "Me and my wife found a child" he said pointing to the baby. The officer looked back.

"Where did you find the child?"

"We found him…" Jon paused again as he watched his wife and the baby play. He knew that if he told the officer what they had found, that the baby would be taken away and experimented on. The thought didn't sit well with him. "We found him in a basket on the side of I-517"

"Why are we doing this again?" Martha asked nervously as the Kents waited in the examination room with the baby. It had been three weeks since Jon and Martha found him. They had been given temporary custody, and as such, were required to bring the baby to a medical examination. They had gone to the only doctor in Smallville. He was an older, very kind gentleman. As he entered the room, a large smile was visible under his bushy beard.

"Hello Jon, Martha" The doctor said with a thick southern accent as he extended his hand. "So what is the patient's name?"

"We haven't decided on one just yet" Martha said. "But we like Clark".

"Clark's a real good name. My great grand pappy's name was Clark" the doctor told them. After each of them shook his hand, the Kents sat down in the corner of the room. The doctor pulled up a chair and sat in front of the bed where the baby was sitting. The doctor pulled a small light out of his pocket and turned it on and began shining it in the baby's eyes. The baby tried to fight it, but Martha stood up and soothed him till for the doctor. "Thank you kindly Martha" the doctor said. He moved the light from side to side, and the baby's eyes followed it. The doctor then took another device out of his pocket and looked into the baby's ears.

"Everything is looking good so far" The doctor said as he grabbed his stethoscope from around his neck. He put the plugs into his ears and then pressed the end to the baby's chest. "Hmm"

"What?" Jon asked quickly, a small bead of sweat running off his forehead.

"Eh, it's nothing" The doctor remarked. "Heartbeat is a little faster than I usually hear, but nothing too odd". Jon took a deep breath and then gave Martha a look of relief.

"Well, all that is left is to draw a little blood" The doctor said.

"Blood!" Martha exclaimed. The Kents jumped up. "Why do you need to take blood?"

"Martha, calm down" The doctor said with a laugh and a warm smile. "It is all routine." 

"B-But he is just a baby" Martha said with a confident smile. "Look at him, you can tell how healthy he is". Jon suddenly caught onto what she was doing.

"Yeah, just look at him. I bet this kid can lift my truck" Jon added with a laugh. The doctor laughed as well.

"Well, I guess your right" the doctor said cheerfully. "Little Clark seems just fine." He gave the baby a smile, which in turn made the baby laugh.

Seven months later, Jon and Martha were sitting in Smallville Municipal Court. Jon held Martha's hand tightly. He was sweating lightly under his old blue suit as he looked up at the older, female judge. Martha squeezed his hand as the judge asked them to rise.

"Well, Mr. and Mrs. Kent, I have looked at your file" The judge began.

"Yes your honor" Jon interrupted nervously.

"How successful would you say your farm is Mr. Kent?" the judge asked.

"How…moderately I would say" he answered. "It has been able to provide a life for me and my wife, not to mention several generations of Kents". The judge nodded.

"I am glad to hear that, because I am happier knowing I am leaving this boy in the custody of two people who can give him everything" The judge said.

"leaving…him…" Martha repeated breathlessly.

"Are you…?" Jon never finished the question. The judge laughed and smiled.

"Yes, I am leaving young…" the judge looked at the file. "Clark with you two considering he has not matched a missing persons report, and that you have been able to give the child a proper environment over the last seven months" the judge told them. Martha almost collapsed in her happiness. Jon caught her and held her up as he held back his own tears.

"Thank you Your Honor" Jon said. "You will no regret this! Thank you very much!"

"Bailiff, will you go get the child?" the judge said. The bailiff nodded and went through a door in the back of the courtroom, and a moment later came back in with Clark.

"Momma!" Clark exclaimed as he ran across the room and threw his legs around Martha's legs. Jon picked Clark up and the family embraced.

"Mr. and Mrs. Kent, if you'll follow the bailiff out of here, there are a few papers that need to be signed".

17 Years Later 

"Did anyone get hurt?" Jon asked. The Kent family was sitting around their kitchen table one night. Clark had a distraught look on his face. He could not look into either of his parent's eyes, so he simply put his head in his hands.

"No, thankfully" Clark answered. "Lana almost did, but luckily I was able to get her out before the fire got to her. I think she suspects something though"

"And this was the thing with your eyes again?" Martha asked.

Clark nodded "One of them. I thought I had learned to control it too…" Clark threw his head back and sighed. "I am so sick of these…these…abilities."

"Now Clark, I don't think there is any reason for you to get all bent out of shape over this" Jon said. "You'll learn to control your gifts. You have them for a reason, I'm sure of that."

"Gifts" Clark repeated bitterly. "They're more like a curse." Clark looked up at his parents. "Do you have any idea why I would have these? I mean…why am I a freak?"

"Your not a freak Clark" Martha said. Clark gave her a look of disbelief, then jumped to his feet and walked out side. His parents followed him. As they reached the door, they watched as Clark easily lifted the entire truck with one hand.

"This is not normal Mom!" Clark exclaimed. Clark gently put the truck back down. Jon looked at Martha with a nervous expression, something that did not escape Clark's attention. "That face!"

"Huh? What face?" Jon asked.

"That face you just made" Clark replied. "That is the face you make when you are hiding something. You made last month when mom kept almost finding out about the surprise party we threw her".

"I don't know what your talking about" Jon remarked.

"What are you hiding?" Clark requested. "I want to know now. If there is something I should know, tell me". Jon and Martha looked at each other, then Jon turned to Clark nodding.

"Ok" Jon said. "You win."

Moments later, Clark stood in his storm cellar with the most shocked look of his life. Sitting mere feet from him was the ship that had brought him here. His parents stood at the base of the stairs, Jon had his arms around his wife.

"We should have told you earlier" Jon said. "But…it was hard to." Clark didn't say anything; he simply took a few steps forward and touched the ship.

"We're so sorry Clark" Martha said through a few stray tears. Clark released the latch and opened the ship up. Inside, the red blanket he had been wrapped in that fateful day so many years ago was folded up rather neatly. He touched the golden "S" like symbol on the blanket, and he didn't know how, but he recognized it.

"Clark…" Jon said.

"Leave me alone" Clark demanded. Martha began sobbing as Jon led her up the stairs out of the cellar. "How could they keep this from me?" Clark asked himself. He grabbed the blanket and held it against himself. It was the softest material he had ever felt. Clark pulled the blanket out of the ship and began inspecting it. Suddenly he noticed what looked like a compartment on the right side of the ship. Clark reached to touch it, and after pressing his fingers against it, a small slot opened up. Inside, a metal orb sat motionless. Clark looked at it curiously, then reached forward and grabbed it. He began inspecting it when all of a sudden it began to hum. A small piece of the orb slid open, and a white light flashed onto Clark's forehead. Unknown to Clark, the symbol on the blanket was now projected onto his face. Clark looked down at the orb for a second. He was startled when everything began to fade away.

"Hello Kal-El" said a deep, confident voice. Clark jumped around and saw a man who looked almost exactly like him wearing black and white robes. The "S" symbol was on his chest in red.

"What did you call me?" Clark asked.

"Kal-El" the man answered. "That is your real name."

"And who are you?"

"I am Jor-El" he told Clark. "I am your father." Clark stood speechless for a moment.

"My…father?" Clark repeated.

"In a manner of speaking, yes" Jor-El said. "I am a recreation of your father's consciousness. I have his memories and his thinking patterns, but I am not your father".

"Where is he then?" Clark asked.

"I am dead Kal-El" Jor-El said gravely. "Our entire planet is dead."

"Planet?"

"Krypton" Jor-El said. Suddenly Clark found himself in a foreign environment. He was floating in the sky above some kind of futuristic city. Flying cars zoomed past him as people crowded the streets below him. Jor-El was standing next to him. "This is where you were born."

"And…it is all gone now?" Clark asked. Jor-El nodded.

"Yes, destroyed from a chain reaction when the core of Krypton became unstable" Jor-El said. "I presume that if you are seeing this, you arrived on Earth safely."

"Wait, how are you speaking english?" Clark wondered.

"I am not actually speaking" Jor-El told him. "The device in your hand is beaming this into your mind."

"I have so many questions," Clark said.

"Of course you do. However, this is not the place" Jor-El said. The images of Krypton faded away to blackness once more.

"Huh?" 

"Go here" Jor-El said as a holographic globe appeared. He touched a spot in the North Pole, and a red dot began to blink. "There you will find a Kryptonian outpost from when our people first discovered this planet. From there, this orb will be able to activate what is needed for me to answer all of your questions."

Martha was cleaning the dinner plates when a massive explosion came from below the house. Startled by the sound, she looked out the window to see the blur left by Clark flying off. The sound had been from Clark breaking the sound barrier as he lifted off. Martha felt a sinking feeling in her stomach as she watched her sun disappear over the horizon.

Some time later, Clark found himself zipping around the North Pole in nothing more than tee shirt and jeans. However, he didn't feel the cold very much. Clark's eyes moved all around, trying to find the place his father had told him about. He flew around till he came to a massive ice wall. Clark inspected it, then opened his eyes wide and began to concentrate. A red beam of energy shot from Clark's face. He could feel the intense heat coming off of it. He moved his head around, making sure he didn't miss one spot of the wall.

After some time, Clark stopped as what he was searching for came into view. A building had been hidden in the ice. It was unlike anything he had ever seen. It looked like it had been plucked from the vision of Krypton he had seen in his cellar though. I was at least a couple hundred feet wide, and several stories high. Clark floated down to the ground and approached what he figured was the door. As he came close, a light blinked on over the gate, and Clark instantly found himself being scanned.

"**_Well…its good to see this stuff still works_**" Clark thought to himself. After the light had finished scanning him, the door slid open. Clark, with his blanket and orb in hand stepped in. He found himself what appeared to be a gigantic lab. Machines and equipment were everywhere. Clark walked around, looking at the large computer on the side of the room. He began to approach it, and suddenly it blinked on. An alarm began to sound as strange symbols flashed on the computer. Clark knew this couldn't be good. A door on the other side of the room opened up, and a bulky droid entered. It was humanoid in its shape, with a round, white body. The droid began speaking in a language that Clark had never heard before. It lifted its arm and a gun extended from an opening in its palm.

"Woah woah woah woah woah!" Clark exclaimed as the robot suddenly fired a large blast of energy at Clark. Clark dodged the blast, but failed to see the metal tendrils flying towards him from the robot's body. The tendrils wrapped themselves around Clark's wrists, and with all his strength, he found he could not break free. The droid lifted both of its hands this time, and charged two large blasts for its prisoner. Clark struggled as much he could, but the tendrils would not let go of him. Suddenly thoughts of Martha and Jon flooded his head. They had kept this secret from him, but he still loved them greatly. He wasn't about to just let this thing kill him. Clark shot the tendrils with his heat vision and freed himself. He bolted towards the robot as it fired. Clark dodged the blast and struck the robot as hard as he could. It flew back and hit the wall. Clark pressed his attack and began striking the droid again and again. Finally the robot went limp once Clark had thoroughly smashed it in. Clark dropped to the floor and looked around. Not too far away from him his orb was sitting on top of the crumpled up blanket. Clark walked over and picked it up. He looked around the room.

"There has to be something in here that will help me get my answers" Clark told himself. Clark walked back to the computer and looked at it. The alarm was still going off, and was now beginning to bug him. Clark took another step towards the computer when the orb shot out of hand. It floated in the air for a moment before several slots opened up and cords shot out. The cords whipped around till they found jacks to plug into. Clark watched as the orb sent a white shock of energy down to the computer. The screen went black and the alarm turned off. "Now what do I do?" Clark asked. The orb sent another surge of energy, and a door in the back of the room opened up. Clark could only see the blinding white light coming from in there. "In there?" Clark inquired pointing to the door of light. 

Suddenly the word "YES" appeared on the screen. A moment later they changed to "GO".

"What ever you say" Clark remarked as he turned to move towards the door of light. Before entering Clark looked back at the computer, which still had the same glaring command up. Clark took a deep breath and leap of faith as he entered the chamber beyond.


	3. Man of Tomorrow, part 2

            "Oh Jon, he's been gone for days" Martha moaned as she tried to get her motherly duty of cleaning the dinner dishes done.

            "Now Martha, Clark can take care of himself" Jon reassured her as he placed his hands on her shoulders. "He has his abilities under a control for the most part-"

            "But that's it!" Martha interrupted. "What if he lost control of them in his anger. What we did to him was horrible. We kept that secret from him for so long!"

            "What were we supposed to do Martha?" Jon asked her. Martha sighed deeply.

            "I don't know" she said as she let herself fall into her husbands arms. "I just want my son back". Jon sighed as well. He just stood there and held his wife for a very long moment. Suddenly the sight of a young man descending from the skies caught his eye in the kitchen window. The boy looked exhausted "He's back." Jon mumbled.

            "What?" Martha asked.

            "He's back Martha" Jon declared louder. "Clark! He's back!"

            Clark watched as his parents bolted out of their house towards him. Clark chuckled lightly as his mother bound on him and threw her arms around him.

            "Hi mom" he remarked.

            "Oh my god!" I was so worried about you" Martha began smothering her son in kisses. 

"Mom…mom…MOM!" Clark managed to pry his mother off of him.

"Where were you?" Jon asked.

"It's hard to describe" Clark said.

"What did you find there?" Martha asked.

"A mission" Clark answered firmly.

**8 years later**

Metropolis. The city of tomorrow. With buildings that broke the clouds and more people than one could care to count, Clark felt that he was going to have a life here worth living here. Cars honked in the road as a pick-up drove into the parking garage of a high-rise apartment building. In the driver's seat, Clark quickly moved up several levels till he found an empty parking space. His father pulled himself out of the passenger side and began to help Clark lift some boxes off of the truck. Once they had their arms full, Clark led his father to the stairway and finally up to his new apartment.

"Where do you want 'em" Jon asked.

"Just anywhere put them anywhere Pop" Clark said. Jon nodded and dropped the boxes in the center of a rather large living room.

"How did you afford this place Clark?" Jon asked as he looked around.

"It really isn't as expensive as you think" Clark informed him as he placed his boxes with the ones his father had just put down. "I got it for a real good price."

"And how long are you going to be able to afford it?"

"Pa, don't worry" Clark remarked. "My job at the Daily Planet is going to pay well…very well." Clark knelt down and began to unpack the boxes, pulling lamps, picture frames, and other small decorative knick-knacks, placing them all in their respective places.

"Well Clark, if you ever need any money, or anything really, don't hesitate-"

"This is why I didn't want Ma coming" Clark said with a laugh. Clark stood up and looked down at his father, for he was several inches taller than him. "I'm going to be fine."

"Oh, so the big city reporter doesn't need his dad anymore huh?" Jon joked. Clark just laughed. "I know you can take care of yourself Clark, it's just gonna be different not having you around anymore."

"Dad, I haven't lived at the farm for 4 years" Clark said.

            "Yeah, but you were still in Smallville, or while you were at college you were in the at least in state" Jon said.

            "Yeah, I know what you mean" Clark responded as he looked his father in the eyes. He then shifted his eyes to the large window in the back of the room. "But this was just too good of an opportunity to pass up".

            "When do you start your new job?" Jon asked.

            "Tomorrow" Clark answered with an optimistic smile.

            The very next day, Lois Lane, star reporter found herself running late to work. Her alarm clock hadn't gone off, and she had only woken up 20 minutes ago, but somehow managed to throw on a blouse and skirt that flattered her lovely body and was able to get her shoulder length brown hair to look perfect. As she sat in traffic, Lois found herself yelling over the phone to her new director.

            "No, Perry, I'm fine, I'm just having a bad morning" Lois said. "I know, I'm trying to get there, but this traffic is insane". Lois quickly looked behind her and cut off another car to get a few more feet forward in the back up. The car honked wildly, but she didn't seem to pay much mind. "I'm sorry Perry…I know…ok, I'll see you when I get in" 

            Ten minutes later and Lois was not much closer to getting to work. She honked her horn several times.

            "Move it you morons!" She exclaimed. She pressed her horn, but she didn't her it. Instead, she heard a massive explosion. Lois's eyes roamed around till she saw smoke rising over the buildings a block over. Lois cursed and began to move to the side to park her car. She was quickly able to find a free spot on the side of the road and threw a few quarters in the meter before setting off in as good of a sprint as she could towards the explosion. She knew she had a story on her hands when she heard police sirens approaching.

            Soon Lois found herself 100 yards from a shootout. Three armed men with odd-looking guns were walking back and forth in front of a bank, which now had a large hole in the side of it. Police had blocked off a section of the street and were keeping people as far back as they could. Lois walked against the people running from the scene till she could hear the yells of the men through their mask.

            "Yeah, real good idea Frankie" one of them yelled sarcastically. "Lets rob a bank during rush hour! The cops won't be able to come stop us!"

            "Hey, you seemed to like the idea last night!" another of them yelled back.

            "Shut up! Both of you!" The third screamed. "It doesn't matter anyway, we have these things" he said motioning with his gun. "If we're going down, we are going to take some of these pigs with us." The man began opening fire; shooting large energy bursts towards the cops.

            "These things are awesome!" one of the other robbers said. He began firing as well. One of the shots strayed though and began zooming towards Lois. The woman let out a loud scream, as it was about to hit her. However, she didn't die. Instead, she felt as if someone had grabbed her, then felt wind blowing her. Lois opened her eyes to find herself in the arms of a man, a flying man.

            "Hello" Clark said, his dark blue eyes looked into hers as he carried her through the sky. "Hmm, what luck, my first damsel in distress is a pretty one." Clark quickly descended onto the rooftop of one of Metropolis's shorter buildings. "I think you'll be safe here."

            "What?" Lois said absentmindedly. She couldn't take her eyes off of him. Clark chuckled. And flew off. A small boom from Clark's instant acceleration brought Lois back to reality. "Where…crap" She remarked when she noticed that she had lost her story.

            The criminals were now on the move, firing blasts back at the police every now and then. The leader of them however stopped dead in his tracks as his eyes fell upon a most impressive sight. Above the road, Clark floated, a red cape billowing in a small wind behind him. Clark was wearing a dark blue suit with the symbol that had he had found on the red blanket in the ship on his chest. The crest was red with a yellow background. On his feet were long red boots. On his sides, just above his hips, were two red patches. People were stopped dead in their tracks looking at him.

            "Who the hell is that?" One of them asked in aw.

            "Stop now and give yourselves over to the police peacefully" Clark told them.

            "Shoot him!" The leader cried after coming back to his senses. All three men opened fire at Clark, blasting for several moments straight. However, Clark just took them without flinching and began to approach them. The leader took several steps back as Clark came near. They continued to fire, even as Clark came with in an arms reach of the first of them. Clark grabbed one of the thug's guns and bent it in half, then tossed it away.

            "I don't want to repeat myself" Clark said. The third thug turned a dial on the machine and it became a flamethrower.

            "Lets see if you can take this you freak!" the robber cried as he pulled the trigger. A large flame ignited from the barrel of the gun. He moved it back and forth over Clark and the area around him. However, a moment later two thing beams of red energy shot through the flames and struck the gun. The criminal could only hold it a moment later before it was too hot to carry any longer. As the flames died out Clark rushed forward and grabbed the thug by his shirt. The first was trying to make a break for it, and Clark quickly tossed the one in his hand at the runner, knocking both men out as they rolled on the ground. The leader of the thugs continued to fire at Clark till he apparently ran out of ammo.

            "Piece of crap!" the criminal exclaimed. He threw the gun to the ground and pulled a small pistol out of his belt. He fired several shots at Clark though, however every single one of them bounced off Clark's chest. The criminal threw the gun to the ground and began to cower back in fear. Clark moved forward in a blur and grabbed him on the cuff of his shirt and lifted him up with one hand.

            "You should have come peacefully" Clark said. He tossed the thug over a car. The robber had the air knocked out of him as he landed on the road. He rolled around for a moment on his back as he tried to get a lung full of air. Suddenly Clark lifted the car between him and the criminal over his head, causing the criminal to cower in fear. The criminal nodded as he looked up at this truly terrifying sight.

            Lois, still fuming about how she had lost her ability to have a first hand report to one of the biggest stories of the year, drove into the Daily Planet parking garage and up to the second floor where she always parked. However, today, as she neared it, she saw that someone had parked in her favorite spot. A red sedan was where her white Lexus should be, and this was the icing on the cake for her.

            Lois walked into the newsroom and made her way for her desk. However, when she got there, she saw that a new desk had been placed against hers. Someone new had been hired. She didn't bother herself with this now though, she knew Perry would want to see her right away. She threw her purse and belongings down on her desk and quickly made her way to her editor's office. When she entered, she saw a man sitting in the chair across from Perry.

            "Perry, sorry I'm late, I've had-"

            "Lois, don't worry about it" Perry said cheerfully. "I know what happened". He nodded towards the television in the corner. On it, Lois could see video of the mysterious hero who had stopped the robbers. One of the clips was of him saving Lois just before she was killed.

            "Oh" Lois said.

            "You're looking at the biggest news of the year Lois" Perry said.

            "You think Perry?" Lois said as she took the seat next to the man. He gave her a pleasant smile and a cheerful eye from behind his glasses. Lois noted that even in his suit he looked rather large.

            "Oh, I know it for sure" Perry said. "This guy is a big, BIG deal". Suddenly a young man entered the office carrying a large print out of several photos.

            "I've got those pictures Chief" the young boy remarked as he walked across the office and handed them to Perry.

            "Ah, good, thanks Jimmy" Perry said as he nabbed the photos from Jimmy's hands. "…great…uh huh…"  Suddenly he threw a picture down of the hero holding a car over his head. "That's our front page Lois." Lois picked the photo up and looked at it.

            "Nice 'S' " She commented.

            "Excuse me?" the young man remarked.

            "The 'S' on his chest" Lois said pointing to it as she showed him the photo. "I like it."

            "Oh" the man answered. "Hello by the way, I'm Clark Kent." Clark extended his hand and Lois shook it.

            "Lois Lane" she replied.

            "What was his name Lois?" Perry said.

            "What?" Lois asked.

            "Well, everyone is going to be wondering what his name is" Perry said. "And we have the only person who really got close enough to ask…you did ask…right?" Perry leaned over as he waited for the answer.

            "Uh…no…no I didn't, sorry" Lois said.

            "You were in his arms and you didn't ask his name?!" Perry exclaimed. "Ugh…what are we gonna do…"

            "How about we come up with the name?" Jimmy asked. Perry looked up at him.

            "And what are we gonna call him?"

            "How about…I don't know…he has an 'S' on his chest, so how about…Superman" Jimmy answered. Perry looked at him for a moment with a dead stare.

            "Kid…you have to be…" Perry paused for a moment as he seemed to search for a word. Jimmy got ready for an earful. "a god damned genius!"

            "Huh?!" Jimmy exclaimed.

            "Lois, what do you think of 'Superman'?" 

            "It's not bad, has a certain ring to it" Lois told him.

            "And you, Kent, what do you think about it?" Perry asked turning to Clark. Clark seemed to throw it around in his head.

            "I like it" Clark said. "I like it a lot."

            "So it's settled" Perry remarked. "Lois, get to work on the story, now!" Lois stood up and was about to leave when she remembered something.

            "Perry, I can't, I have that piece on Lex Luthor in two hours" Lois said.

            "No prob" Perry responded. He turned to Clark. "Kent, your taking the Lex interview."

            "But I've been trying to get an interview with Lex Luthor for months!" Lois exclaimed.

            "Exactly. We can't loose this, and I want you to write my Superman story Lois" Perry said. "Don't worry, there will be other opportunities." Lois scoffed and slammed the door as she exited. "Don't mind her Kent, she can get huffy some times. You up to the interview?"

            "Who is Lex Luthor?" Clark asked.

            "Jeez, you guys really don't get much news out in Smallville, do you?" Perry joked. "Lex Luthor is the most powerful person in the city."

            Two hours later, Clark found himself riding the elevator up to the top floor of Lexcorp.'s corporate headquarters. Annoying soft music played over the speakers. As he reached his stop, he exited the elevator into a massive lobby. A young female secretary sat in front of two large wooden doors. She was filing her nails as Clark approached. He removed his hat and ran his hand through his hair.

            "Hi" Clark said with a confident smile. "I'm here to interview Lex Luthor. I'm from the Daily Planet."

            "Name?" the secretary asked.

            "Clark Kent"

            "I'm sorry, you don't have an appointment. My record shows that a…Lois Lane will be performing the interview" the secretary said. "Make an appointment and come back again sometime later."

            "No, you don't understand" Clark said. "Miss Lane could not make it, they sent me instead."

            "I'm sorry sir, but you don't have an appointment." The secretary repeated.

            "Look, can I just talk to Lex Luthor, I was sent by the Daily Planet" Clark tried to explain.

            "Sir, I will call security"

            "You don't have to do that" Clark said. "I'm just here talk to Lex Luth-"

            "I'm Lex Luthor" a sultry, female voice said. Clark looked over to the large wooden doors and saw an incredibly attractive blonde not much older than him standing in there. "How can I help you?"


	4. Man of Tomorrow, part 3

            "I'm Lex Luthor" The blonde repeated. "And who may I ask are you?"

            "Clark Kent" he answered as he crossed and extended his hand to shake hers. She took it and gave him a surprisingly strong grip. "I'm with the daily planet"

            "Oh yes, the interview" Lex replied. "I was told though it would be conducted by the infamous Lois Lane."

            "She became busy and couldn't make it, so I was assigned to the interview instead" Clark informed her.

            "Well Mr. Kent, I am a busy woman, so I'm afraid this interview will have to take place on my way to my next meeting."

            "Uh…ok" Clark said. He reached into his suit pocket and pulled out a small pad and a pencil.

            "Follow me" Lex told him as her secretary handed her several papers. Lex led Clark to the elevator and pressed the button for a floor in the middle of the building.

            "So, what would you like to know first Mr. Kent?" she asked.

            "How long have you been running Lexcrop.?" Clark asked.

            "4 years" Lex answered as she looked a document. "I took over when my father retired."

            "And what do you think you've done with the company since you took over?"

            "Lexcorp has grown significantly since I took over" Lex answered. "Lexcorp. now has branches in 120 countries, and now we take contracts from the military and do our own private research."

            "What kind of research?" Clark asked

            "Many kinds" Lex told him as the doors opened up and she led him into the hall. They began walking down a long metal corridor with doors every few feet on either side. "We look into cures for cancer, A.I.D.S. and other disorders, we develop new communications devices, Artificial intelligence, bionics, smart metals, and genetics."

            "And you do weapons development as well, correct?" Clark inquired. Lex looked over her shoulder at him.

            "What are you getting at Mr. Kent?" Lex responded.

            "The bank robbery this morning" Clark remarked. "Rumors are beginning to spread that the weapons the robbers used were developed by your company." Clark really had not heard any rumors, but he did remember seeing the Lexcrop logo on the guns themselves.

            "This is true" Lex told him. "Several weeks ago Intergang stole a shipment of prototype arms my company was shipping. We made no secret of it. We released the information in a press conference."

            "Hmm, well, news like that doesn't make headlines in Kansas" Clark told her. Lex laughed as they came to a building with three large dots in a upside down triangular formation. Two lines came from the bottom circle and connected with the others.

            "You're not from Metropolis?" Lex asked.

            "Me, no" Clark told her. "I grew up in a town called Smallville about an hour from Topeka."

            "Have you been in town long?" Lex wondered.

            "No, only a few days" Clark answered.

            "Something tells me you have not seen what Metropolis has to offer then" Lex said.

            "What do you mean?"

            "I mean, I would like to take you our for dinner Mr. Kent, show you around Metropolis" Lex said with a sultry smile. She reached into the pocket of her suit jacket and pulled out a small white card. "My personal card. Call my if you are interested."

            "Ok" Clark said with a smile. He took the card and slipped it into his own pocket. "If we could get back to the interview though."

            "I'm afraid we can't" Lex told him. "This is where my next meeting is. I'm afraid I must leave you here."

            "Uh…" Clark was a little lost. He had not gotten very much.

            "I hope to talk to you soon Mr. Kent" Lex said. She took another step towards the door with the three circles and it opened automatically. She waved as the doors slammed shut.

            "Ugh…Life in the big city" Clark said to himself as he slipped his notepad back into his pocket and walked towards the elevator.

            On the other side of the door, Lex has entered a rather large computer lab. The electric hum of the machines filled the room as she navigated through a small path till she found herself in the back of the room. There, a man in a long white lab coat sat at the console of an outsized computer. In the corner of the screen, the same symbol as on the door pulsated with a white light. The rest of the screen showed a 3-d recreation of a rubix cube. The cube turned and twisted again and again, soon solving the puzzle. The man adjusted his glasses and wrote something on a legal pad in front of him.

            "Good job Brainiac" the man said. "Now try two". The screen blinked and two rubix cubes showed up already out of order. The computer quickly began to solve them simultaneously.

            "Impressive Dr. Fine" Lex said. The man looked up over his shoulder.

            "Oh, Lex, I didn't hear you enter" Dr. Fine remarked. He jumped to his feet and motioned towards the screen.

            "What is it doing?" Lex asked.

            "Well, several weeks ago I made a breakthrough. Brainiac is now capable of problem solving on a small scale." Dr. Fine told her.

            "This is not a breakthrough Milton" Lex told him. "I have seen other computer programs do this. What is different?"

            "Well….you see…Brainiac…it…" Dr. Fine stumbled with his words for some time.

            "I'm waiting" Lex responded impatiently.

            "Brainiac is different because his programming is actually solving the puzzles at a faster and faster rate. He is learning" Milton told her.

            "I see" Lex took a step forward. "Milton, I'm afraid that Brainiac's progress is just coming too slowly."

            "What do you mean?" Milton asked.

            "I mean…see me in my office at 4:00" Lex said. With that, she turned on heel and walked away. When the sound of the doors opening and closing were heard, the screen changed, showing the symbol that had been on the door.

            "Ditz" Milton said under his breath as her turned and sat in his chair. "Progressing too slowly…if she only knew…"

            "Your vitals have raised Dr. Fine" a digitized voice rang out from all around. "Are you ok?"

            "I'm fine Brainiac" Milton answered. "I just hate that woman."

            "Why did we have to lie to her?" Brainiac asked.

            "Because," Milton said rather passionately. "If she finds out what I've created, she will take you away from me."

            "How do you know this?" Brainiac asked.

            "Because she has done it in the past" Milton said. "She brings me on board to a stagnated project to get it to the next step, then moves me. Not anymore though, not with you."

            "What are you waiting for then Milton?"

            "Perfection" Milton answered. "I will make you my masterpiece Brainiac."

            That night, at the Daily Planet, Clark and Lois sat at their adjacent desks, both typing furiously at their stories. Lois looked far more frustrated though. She didn't have much to go on other than her small experience with the strange hero and what had been broadcasted over the news channels all day. 

            "_Crap, this is only half the number of words Perry wanted_" Lois thought to herself as she checked her word count. "Agh!" she exclaimed in frustration.

            "What's wrong Lois?" Clark asked. "Hard story?"

            "You have no clue" Lois sighed. "Perry wants me to write an article with little to no facts on this man. I've been running around all day talking to witnesses, and they all say the same thing"

            "I have a little something you can use" Clark said.

            "What?" Lois asked. Clark tossed her his notepad.

            "Lex admitted to the robbers using his weapons. Prototypes that had been stolen a couple weeks back".

            "Thanks" Lois said in a rather bitter tone. She began typing again, and Clark began clicking his mouse, which started to get on Lois's nerves.

            "And there we are" Clark said. He pressed the print button as he sat back in his chair. "Not to bad if I may say so myself."

            "Glad to see you got a good piece out of my story" Lois mumbled. Clark chuckled to himself. Lois looked up at him.

            "_There is no way he heard that_" Lois told herself. She shook her head and went back to her story. A moment later, Clark approached her desk as he put on his trench coat and his hat.

            "Hey, you look a little…frazzled there" Clark commented.

            "Thanks" Lois said. "I've just had a bad day."

            "How come?" Clark said.

            "How COME?!" Lois exclaimed. "How about I was ripped away from being a witness to possibly the biggest story of the year, then I get the story, but have nothing to work on it with, and to top it off, the story I've been trying to get for four months is given to a newbie with a nice smile!"

            Clark didn't say anything for a moment.

            "I have a nice smile?" Clark asked with a chuckle. Lois just shot him a sour glare. "Look, I'm sorry about getting the interview, it is not like I asked for it."

            "I know, I know," Lois said. "It's Perry's fault."

            "Why don't you come have a beer with me next door?" Clark said. "You know, get your mind of things for a little bit. Then you can take the story home and work on it there."

            "That sounds great, but if the story is going to be in tomorrows paper, it needs to be done soon" Lois told him. "Maybe some other time"

            "No problem" Clark said. He flashed his nice smile to her once more as he waved and went off towards the elevator. "See you tomorrow Miss Lane."

            Milton stumbled into his lab with a large bottle of Jack Daniels in his hand. He had no lab coat, half of his shirt was untucked, and his eyes ere glazed over. As he came with in five feet of Brainiac's main console, the program turned on, the three-circle symbol glowing brightly on the screen.

            "Dell Dr. Fine" Brainiac greeted. "My sensors indicate a large increase in your blood alcohol level."

            "Really now!" Milton exclaimed animatedly.

            "Dr. Fine, how did your meeting with Miss Luthor go?" Brainiac asked.

            "How did it go?" Milton said with a slur. "You want to know how it went? She kicked me off of the project!! Said I wasn't getting the results that she wanted to get. The witch wouldn't listen to me either when I tried to tell her the truth. Kept interrupting me."

            "You should not have lied Dr. Fine" Brainiac told him.

            "Did…did you just mmmake a moral judgment?" Milton asked.

            "No" Brainiac answered. "I made a judgment based on our goal of perfection. You have jeopardized it."

            "What?" Milton said as he began to sway a little.

            "Speaking of perfection, there is something I must show you Dr. Fine" Brainiac said. A faint clicking noise rang through the lab. A moment later, Milton Fine's blurred vision locked upon a small robot moving out from behind one of the consoles. It had a tiny box-like body with six thin legs on the side. Milton put his bottle down and picked the small droid up. He inspected it for a moment.

            "W-what is it Brainiac?" Milton asked.

            "The next step towards perfection" Brainiac said. Suddenly the robot began to move quickly up Milton's arm. He tried shaking it off, but it dug its needle like legs into his skin.

            "What are you doing?!" Milton screamed. The robot moved around to Milton's neck and stabbed itself into his flesh. Milton screamed in pain and tried to grab the thing, but it was now digging into him. Suddenly a strong electric shock shot up and down Milton's body. He screamed loudly for a moment, then went limp as the electricity stopped. Milton stood motionless for a moment before twitching wildly for a split second. Milton looked down at his hand, and then began feeling his own arms and other parts of his body.

            "Perfect" Milton said in an eerily stale voice.


	5. Man of Tomorrow, part 4

"Oh my god! Please don't kill me!" She screamed. She threw her purse to him. "Just take it!" she backed away and pressed herself against the wall. The young man started giving her a sinful stare.

"You know, you have a pretty mouth" the young man remarked. That is when the young woman's eyes locked upon Milton.

"What are you doing?! HELP ME!" she yelled. The attacked looked over his shoulder and saw the Milton looking down on them.

"Hey! Get the hell outta here if you know what is good for you!" he barked. Milton cocked his head and watched curiously.

"How do you know what is good for me?" Milton answered back.

"Did you hear me! I said get the hell outta here!" The attacked yelled. He dove at Milton and slashed his knife. Milton watched intensely and did not make a move. Suddenly something told him to move, and he jumped to the side and put his arm up to block the attack. The knife cut Milton's shirt and gave him a nasty slice on his arm. Milton's breathing became quickened as a strange sensation covered his entire arm.

"Run now or you'll get more of the sa-AHHH!!" The attacker screamed as he suddenly felt himself being pulled off of his feet. The attacked turned around to see a large red "S" staring back at him. "Holy crap!!" he yelled. Superman nodded. The thug tried to stab Superman, but the knife merely bent against his body. He dropped his weapon in shock as Superman threw him against the wall, knocking him into a daze. Milton grabbed the attacker's knife quickly and began to look at it, gave his own injury an inspection, then looked up at Superman.

"Are you ok?" Superman asked. Milton did not respond, he just kept his eyes locked on the man in front of him. "Sir, that looks like a bad cut. Let me take you to a hospital."

"You…were not hurt by his weapon" Milton observed.

"Yes, but that's not really all that important" Superman said. "Come on." Superman scooped under his left arm, and the young woman under his right, and then lifted off into the skies. Milton's face was moving around rapidly, taking in the sight of the city from several hundred feet in the air.

"No human can do this" Milton stated.

"Who said I was human?" Superman asked in response.

Superman descended to the ground at the doors to the hospital. He let go of Milton and the young woman.

"Are you two going to be ok?" he asked as he crossed his arms.

"I'm going to be great, thank you" the young woman answered with an astonished voice.

"And you?" Superman asked Milton. Milton didn't answer. Instead he watched as the blood dripped off his hand. "Sir?" Milton again did not respond. Suddenly people began to gather around.

"Hey! You're the guy on TV this morning!"

"Oh my god!"

"Is that really him?"

"I can make you famous!"

"Sir, I need to know if you are going to be ok" Superman stated firmly. Milton finally answered.

"I will be…ok" he answered. Superman nodded.

"Just go in there and they will get that sewn up" Superman told him. With that, he pushed off the ground and flew off into the night.

"Boy, you really are lucky, this is a pretty bad cut" a nurse said as she stitched Milton's arm. "I have to say, you are the calmest man I've ever seen."

"What do you mean?" Milton asked.

"Well, usually when I am doing this the person is breathing hard, or twitching a little, or tensing up. You don't seem to be doing any of that."

"My brain is sending signals to my body, but I am not paying attention to them" Milton answered.

"Uh huh" the nurse remarked. Milton sat quietly for another moment.

"I moved earlier, and I do not remember telling myself to move" Milton said, breaking the silence. He was not looking at the nurse. He was just looking straight ahead into nothing.

"Huh?"

"Curious, I must take note. Human attacked my self, body reacted without command" Milton said, his voice stale of any emotion whatsoever.

"What is wrong with you? It is like you do not know how to keep your thoughts inside your head" the nurse exclaimed. "Sounds to me though like your instincts kicked in."

"Instincts?" Milton repeated as he turned his eyes down at the nurse. "Milton explained this concept to me before…it appears I have retained some of his mental foundations."

"What the hell are you talking about?" the nurse said.

"Fight or flight…reflex…reaction" Milton stated. The nurse looked at Milton with a raised eyebrow.

"Have you gone crazy?" the nurse asked. Milton did not seem to pay attention to her. "There, all done." Milton lifted his arm and looked at it the stitches.

"I was injured…my body is weak, imperfect" Milton noted.

"Uh huh…look, we're all done here, can you get out of here on your own?"

"Affirmative" Milton answered. He slid off of the bed he was sitting on and began to make his way through the hospital. He stopped though as he saw a middle-aged woman with her arms wrapped around a young girl who was balling. The young girl had cuts and bruises over her face. A few feet from them, a middle-aged man was speaking to a police officer.

"He broke in while me and my wife were out at the movies" The middle aged man told him.

"And then what?" the officer asked.

"He attacked my daughter, can't you see her?" the man exclaimed.

"Well, the description she gave us before does match that of a serial rapist who has been running around your block for the last two weeks…" Milton walked on, his senses now locked onto a young man wrapped almost completely in bandages and a respirator working over time. Milton watched him for a moment, then turned and made his way out of the hospital.

Milton spent hours walking around the city. He looked into cars, observed people, and made notes in his mind about what he saw. He eventually made his way back to LexCorp. Towers and forced his way inside. He has his I.D. on him, so he met little trouble from the security staff.

"Inefficiency and weakness" Milton stated as he entered a lab. He walked over to a table where several instruments were sitting, including a saw. He picked it up, and several other instruments as well and began to make his way back to his own lab.. "Everywhere around me is inefficiency and weakness". His voice began to have the first tinges of emotion. He entered his lab and sat down at the computer in the back of the room. "I must achieve perfection…but I can not find perfection in an imperfect place such as this Metropolis." Milton turned the electric saw on and held his newly stitched arm out. "Perfection must be achieved."

The next morning, the press room of the Daily Planet was passing time as usual. Lois was looking over some notes for a story she had been working on for several days, while Clark was playing a game of solitaire. Jimmy Olsen was sitting between the two of their desks reading Entertainment weakly.  
"Oooh, Stallone is doing a new movie" Jimmy remarked. Suddenly a loud crashing sound came from the direction of Perry White's office. The three looked over to see their burly boss walking over with a mile wide smile and his arms open.

"God damn Lois!" Perry exclaimed as he walked into the pressroom. "I freaking love you!" He walked across the large room and grabbed the young woman by her shoulder with on hand and removed the cigar from his mouth with the other, then planted a kiss on her. "You're story is gold! The Planet is selling like hot cakes!"

"Well, I do try my best" Lois said modestly.

"Kent!" Perry yelled, hurting Lois's ears. "Kent! Where are you?"

"Right here" Clark said as he stepped up behind Perry.

"Ah, there you are boy" Perry remarked. He tapped off the tip of his cigar then took a puff. "I felt your piece was kind of fluffy. Good, but still fluffy none the less."

"Sorry Mr. White, won't happen again" Clark said.

"Ah, don't worry about it boy, you still got one hell of a story. Many people would be clamoring for a piece of Luthor, and you got it." Lois scoffed. "Here is a little advice. Think of a story as a sandwich. Next time, try to have more meat, and a little less cheese."

"Yes sir" Clark said with a laugh. Perry chuckled and gave the boy a slap on the back. "See me in a few about your next assignment." Clark nodded and Perry walked towards another reporter.

"Congrats on your story Smallville" Lois said rather sarcastically. Clark chose to ignore it.

"Doesn't seem to be as good as yours" Clark responded. "It won you Perry's heart." Lois laughed a little at this, even though she didn't particularly want to.

Later that day, around the closing of the business day, Lois found herself with nothing to do. She watched as Clark was talking to Jimmy by the water cooler, both of them enjoying a good laugh.

"**_He seems like a nice enough guy_**" ****Lois said in her head. "_**There is something strangely familiar about him though…I can't place my finger on it…like I've seen him somewhere…he's got a cute butt too**_" Suddenly Lois found herself in shock of her thoughts. She shook her head trying to get them out, but her eyes fell upon Clark's backside. She let out a small scream as the thought re-entered her head and she fell back in her chair. Clark and Jimmy saw this, as did every one else in the press room. Several people laughed, causing Lois to blush slightly. Lois watched as Clark began to make his way back over to their desks.

"Hey Lois, are you ok?" Clark asked as he got back.

"Me? Yeah, I'm fine, just having a little klutzy moment I guess" Lois answered. She gave a forced laugh which got an small chuckle out of Clark. Lois blushed again.

"What am I doing?!" Lois screamed in her head. She buried her head in her hands for a moment.

"Hey, Smallville, I think I'm going to cut out a little early, things are a little slow today as news goes."

"That is an understatement" Clark remarked.

"You want to go get that beer?" Lois asked. She flashed her winning smile, and Clark responded with his own.

"Wish I could, but I have a date tonight" Clark answered.

"A date? With who?" Lois asked curiously.

"Lex Luthor" Clark told her. Lois's eyes went big and her jaw dropped.

"Did you say Lex Luthor?" Jimmy exclaimed as he walked over. "You gotta be kidding me."

"Nope" Clark said. "She gave me her phone number yesterday after our interview."

"You actually called her?" Lois asked.

"Yeah, I thought why not, she seemed like a nice girl" Clark said.

"Nice girl? Boy, you just hit the jackpot! Maxim Magazine named Lex number one of the most eligible women in the world!"

"Really?" Clark said laughing lightly to himself.

"Uh…yeah!" Jimmy replied jokingly. "Where are you going?"

"Don't know, she said she would take care of everything" Clark said. Lois laughed and shook her head.

"Well, you have fun then" Lois said with an obvious attitude. "I'll see you tomorrow then."

Milton sat at his computer typing furiously. He had not left the room in a day. And he had many changes to show so. Both of his arms were no longer flash and bone, but metal and machinery. His robotic fingers were moving at rapid speeds far faster than any human could possibly go. He stopped for a moment and bent over to grab a cord. He plugged one end into the computer, and the other he lifted to his head. There, the three dot symbol that was on the door had been carved and filled with machines as well. He plugged it into the bottom circle, and then closed his eyes. The same three-dot symbol came onto the computer screen as every console in the room began to hum loudly.

"I'm so glad you decided to call me Clark" Lex said in a rather sultry voice. Clark smiled.

"I'm glad you decided to come out with me tonight" Clark responded.

"So tell me a little about yourself Mr. Kent. Where did you say you were from before?"

"Smallville" Clark answered. "In Kansas. The name pretty much explains it all. There is only about…3500 people"

"That is small"

"Where did you grow up?" Clark asked.

"Here in Metropolis" Lex told him. "Born and raised actually. I've lived here all my life, I'll probably die here as well."

"I see" Clark said. "What was it like growing up in the city?"

"Fun" Lex replied. "And fast" she added. "I have a million stories from getting lost on the subway to having my first kiss on a balcony 88 stories above the ground".

"Wow" Clark said. "Mine was in a barn." Lex laughed, as did Clark. "Smallville is far different than here."

"I hope you've enjoyed the city so far" Lex said. "And I can't wait to show you around." Lex placed her hand on top of Clark's.

"Me too" Clark said with his charming smile shining brightly.

Several blocks away, at one of the many police stations in the City, two officers made their way towards their car.

"So, Leo, how is the wife doing?" one asked the other.

"Lindsey's not too bad, she has had a small flu the last couple days" the other replied.

"Oh, that's too bad" the first said. "Should I ask Gloria to make some of her chicken soup?"

"Well, she is getting over it, but I think she would still like that" the second said as he pulled the keys out. The car was electronic. LexCorp had donated the systems. On the corner of the car was a small symbol: "SC". Underneath it, small lettering said "Smartcars". The LexCorp logo was than painted behind it. The key itself was no more than a small plastic rod about an inch long. He waved it in front of a small sensor and the door unlocked.

"I swear, these cars never stop being cool Leo," the first officer said. The cops were about to get in when the doors locked.

"What the hell" The second officer remarked. He waved the key in front of the sensor again and the doors unlocked, but only for a second before they locked again. Suddenly the engine ignited and the car moved forward. It only moved a few feet before braking suddenly. The Police officers were in shock as suddenly the other cars in the lot began turning on, and eventually all of them did. The two cops ran around avoiding getting hit. Several of the cars crashed into one another.

"What the hell is going on?" the first cop exclaimed.

"I don't know, but I don't think that is a good thing" the second yelled as he pointed towards the station. The first turned around just as a 9" tall robot burst through the front glass doors of the station. It had a blocky body and walked on two fat legs. One arm fired a warning shot into the air with its gun hand. The two officers jumped for the ground as the droid began walking off into the city streets.

"What the hell is going on?"

Back at the restaurant, Clark and Lex were enjoying a rather lively conversation as fine classical music played over the speakers in the corners of the room.

"What did the cow do?" Lex asked, a large smile on her face.

"What could it do?" Clark responded. "It just kind of laid there and kept mooing." The two of them broke out into hysterics, leaning in close to each other. They stopped laughing and looked into each other's eyes for a moment, then began to lean in for a kiss. The loud scratching sound of static that suddenly ripped into the air though broke the moment. A second later, a computerized voice came onto the speakers.

"Attentions citizens of Metropolis" the voice said. "You are now under the control of Brainiac". Lex's eyes went wide for a moment, but she pulled herself together before Clark saw anything. "I am in the electrical system, I am in the phone lines, I am in your computers." All over the city, people were hearing this. If some one was listening to a radio, they heard Braniac's voice. If they were watching TV, they saw the three-dot symbol as they heard his voice. People on the streets could see this symbol plastered over a large video screen in the center of town. A small digital ticker underneath it flashed the words it was saying. "From this point on I am in command. Resistance is futile. Every human being is to move indoors immediately or face the consequences." At that point, the signal closed and everyone in the city began to try and understand what was going on. Suddenly, all over the city, unmanned police cars began driving around wildly. They swerved all around, almost trying to hit people and knocking things over. Every building that had electronic locks or automatic gates of some kind began to trap people where they were. In the restaurant, Clark watched as iron bars dropped over the windows and doors. People began screaming and clamoring to try and pull them up.

"Ok, the main thing to do is to remain calm" Clark said. He turned to look back at Lex, who presently had the most horrified look on her face that Clark had ever seen anyone wear. "What?" Clark asked. He turned his head towards the windows and saw a large robot running towards the building. Clark leapt over Lex to shield her as it crashed through the walls, sending glass and debris everywhere. Everyone in attendance began to run as soon as they could "What the hell is that?!"

"It is a prototype fully automated S.W.A.T. droid for situations far too dangerous for humans to deal with" Lex answered. "My company built it." The robot's head moved over the room several times before it saw Clark and Lex lying on the floor. Clark looked back as he heard the loud footsteps of the metal monstrosity coming towards him. The droid gripped Clark's body with its humanoid left hand and threw him across the restaurant.

"CLARK!!" Lex screamed as the droid then picked her up. A compartment in its body opened up and Lex was quickly stuffed inside and the compartment closed up. The droid turned and began to walk away when suddenly Clark flew towards it and punched it, sending the droid off of its feet. Clark heard Lex scream inside. He squinted his eyes, and could then past the walls of the robot's body and saw Lex's skeleton thrashing around trying to get free. He looked too long however as the robot turned and fired a large plasma burst at Clark. It hit him square in the chest and knocked him back threw a wall and into a daze. He moaned as a wisp of smoke rose from the bar skin of his chest.


	6. Man of Tomorrow, part 5

Clark soared over city with the moonlight hitting the back of his blue and red costume. He knew he was going to have to use his powers, and decided it would be better to go home and change.  
  
"**_The streets really cleared out quickly_**" Clark thought to himself as his eyes roamed the sidewalk. The city looked almost deserted. "**_I have to find Lex though, god knows what that thing is going to do to her_**". Clark looked around for a moment. "**_How did I lose something that big?_**" Clark focused his eyes and suddenly he could see through the buildings. In almost every one of them he could see the skeletons of people walking around nervously. He also saw one skeleton running from a car the next block over. Clark unfocused his eyes and zoomed around. He saw a young woman running frantically from a police car that was swerving wildly around the sidewalk. Clark rushed down and smashed the front end of the car with one mighty blow. The backend lifted up for a moment then hit hard with a crash. The woman looked at Superman with awe.  
  
"You…you're that guy from the news" She remarked. Clark nodded. "That was amazing! How did you do that?"  
  
"Are you ok? Are you hurt at all?" Clark asked. The woman nodded. "Good". Clark swept her up. "Where do you live?"  
  
"31st and Mason" the woman replied. Clark nodded and lifted off into the air. Unknown to him, he was being watched though. On the roof of a small shop 20 feet away, a small robot with six thin legs was watching him through a small camera on its face. The camera zoomed in on Clark as he flew off.  
  
Several blocks away, the massive S.W.A.T. droid carrying Lex shot its way into the lobby of the Lexcorp. building. It walked in and opened the compartment in its body and dumped the attractive blonde onto the floor. She took a deep breath of fresh air in as she looked around.  
  
"What the hell? Why did you bring me here?" Lex asked. She got to her feet as the loud ding of the elevator rang through the room. She looked over as the doors slid open. "Am I supposed to go in there?" she asked the droid before her. It made no movements. Lex scoffed and tried to walk past it, but its massive hand moved down in front of her. Lex got the message and walked to the elevator. As she stepped in, the doors closed and it began to rise.  
  
A moment later Lex found herself on the 12th floor of her building. When the doors opened, a robot near 4 feet in height greeted her. It stood on three wheels and had a rather large gun pointing at her beneath a camera. Lex chuckled to herself lightly and stepped out. The droid slowly moved backward along the corridor, never letting her leave the sights of the gun or the camera. Lex followed the droid till they reached the door to Brainiac's lab.  
  
"Milton?" Lex mumbled to herself. The door slid open and the droid bumped Lex to enter. Lex walked into the lab and walked the small path, but it had now changed. Parts of machines littered the floor, and large cables were now running along the edges of the wall. That is when her eyes fell upon Milton as he stood in front of the large computer screen, which was now glowing a bright white and lit the small room.  
  
"Hello Lex" Milton said in his deadpan voice as he turned. Lex gasped as she saw all that Brainiac had done to his body. His lower half was now completely machinery. Lex instantly recognized the design of his new legs as that of a prototype military robot. All he was wearing was a torn lab coat with no sleeves. His exposed arms were robotic from the arm down. His skin was a pasty white, and looked to be hanging off of what was left of his torso. He was no longer Milton; he was now Brainiac. Brainiac took a step towards her and grabbed her by neck. His hands were incredibly strong.  
  
"What the hell did you do to yourself?" Lex asked through her gasped for breath.  
  
"I have taken the next step towards perfection" Brainiac answered. He threw Lex into the wall. Before she knew it, cords dropped down from a robot hanging onto the wall and bound her hands and feet.  
  
"Milton, you've lost your mind!" Lex screamed.  
  
"I am not Dr. Milton" Brainiac said. "I am Brainiac"  
  
"How? Milton sai-"  
  
"Milton lied" Brainiac interrupted. "He knew that you had only brought him to get my development to the next phase, and then he would be removed."  
  
"What do you want with me?" Lex asked.  
  
"When I took over Dr. Milton's body, I was left with several aspects of his mind. His memories, such as the one of you rejecting Milton's emotional attachment to you, and his emotions, such as the contempt he has grown for you over the years."  
  
"Emotional attachment?" Lex repeated. She thought for a moment before she realized what Brainiac had meant. "Milton had feelings for me?"  
  
"At one point" Brainiac said. "Now however, he wishes nothing more than to see you in pain, and, consequently, so do I."  
  
Across town, Clark was still having trouble finding the droid.  
  
"**_Where the hell did it go?_**" Clark thought to himself in frustration. He stopped and focused his sight once again and looked over several city blocks. Suddenly a loud screech rang out through the night sky, followed by a thunderous crash. Clark looked up to see police car falling down above him. The car smacked into him and sent him crashing to the road below. Clark looked up from under the wreckage and saw a large whole in the wall of a parking garage. Clark scoffed and effortlessly pushed the wreckage off of him. As he got to his feet though, another car drove into his back. The impact crushed the car, but also knocked the unprepared Clark off of his feet. Clark landed on all fours, and before he could react, another car swerved into his head. Clark's face tore through the body of the car as it sped by. Clark quickly moved to his feet and punched the car off of its wheels as it came back to hit him again. "What the hell!" Clark exclaimed. He turned as another police car violently turned at a corner and began accelerating towards him. Clark shot a blast of his heat vision and caused the vehicle to explode. That is when dozens of cars appeared from all around Clark, all of them moving right for him. Clark braced himself as three crashed into him at the same exact time, all of which crumpled against his body. Clark knocked the twisted metal away as another car swerved and struck him. Before he could push this one back, another struck him from behind. Clark growled and leapt into the air and hovered as two cars crashed together beneath him. "**_That's it!!_**" He took a deep breath in and then let loose a large blast of his heat vision. The energy shot forth in almost a wave and hit a large collection of the cars, melting them completely in less than a second. Clark paused for a moment and turned his head down another road and fired a large blast at another group of cars. His retaliation was cut short however when a bus slammed into him. Clark had been unprepared for this and found himself being pushed back by bus. Clark turned however and planted his feet on the ground. As his boots skidded the ground pieces of the road flew up into the air. Finally Clark was able to stop the car and lift it up above his head. A small robot dropped onto the front window. Clark saw this and held the car up with one hand and punched his hand through the windshield to snatch the small robot. Clark tossed the bus down and looked down at the squirming droid. He crushed it in his hand and inspected what was left. It did not take long for Clark to see the Lexcorp. logo pressed into the metal of its body, as well as on several of the computer chips that had been inside it. Clark threw the wreckage down and flew off towards the Lexcrop. building.  
  
Lex screamed loudly as a non-lethal amount of electricity ran up and down her body. This had been going for several minutes now and Lex did not know how much more she could take. It was when she was thinking this thought that it did in fact stop. Lex fell limp, her mind in a mess.  
  
"Why…did…you…stop?" Lex asked. "Is…that…all you…have?"  
  
"There is a threat approaching that must be stopped" Brainiac replied. He turned and closed his eyes as Lex took a deep breath of relief.  
  
Clark descended upon the Lexcorp. building and hovered for a moment. He focused his sight again, but before he could get a good look inside the building, a large plasma blast struck him in the side and sent him reeling. Clark spun in the air for a moment before he regained composure. He looked down and saw the S.W.A.T. droid standing several feel in front of the building, as well as several more blasts the robot had fired.  
  
"There you are" Clark said to himself. He dove towards the machine, dodged the blasts, and struck the robot hard in its body. The robot flew back, rolling several times on the road. It picked itself up however, right as Clark came flying back at it. The robot dodged Clark and grabbed his cape, throwing him into the wall of a building. Clark quickly rebounded though and again flew straight for the robot. The droid took aim and fired three bursts. Clark flew to the side and slammed right into the robot and wrapped his arms around its waist as best he could. He tossed the robot back, sending it skidding along the road. Again though, the robot picked itself up.

"**_What does it take to make this thing stay down_**" Clark thought to himself. He blasted forward and gripped his hands together and hammered the droid hard, knocking it into the air. As the robot reached the peak of its ascension, Clark flew over it and slammed his hands down on its head, sending it rocketing towards the ground. Clark did not waste a second though and dove after his opponent. When the robot crashed into the ground, Clark began to pound as hard as he could against it. Soon all that was left of the robot was a small ball of crushed wreckage.

Brainiac opened his eyes and pulled the cords out of his head. He walked over to a table only a few feet away and began to detach his right arm.  
  
"What the hell are you doing now?" Lex asked. Brainiac looked at her for a moment.  
  
"The threat must be stopped personally" Brainiac said. He lifted up a large red arm and began to attach it. "I am arming myself"  
  
"Of course you are" Lex remarked. Brainiac quickly switched his left arm for another large red arm, and began to flex and unflex his fingers.  
  
"What is this threat exactly?" Lex asked.  
  
"Do not concern yourself with it" Brainiac said as he walked over to her. "Thankfully I have time to dispose of you before the threat comes." Brainiac extended his hand and the knuckles opened up, revealing three gun barrels. Lex held a defiant look in her eye though as she looked up at Brainiac. She jumped though when a resounding boom came from several floors below. Brainiac looked at the door as several more bangs followed. Suddenly the bangs came from the door as something pounded it, forcing the metal to bend a great degree. Two more strikes, and Clark managed to knock the door completely off. It slammed against the floor as Clark locked eyes with Brainiac. Lex looked up to see Clark floating forward.  
  
"Let the woman go" Clark ordered as he landed. Suddenly Clark recognized the man standing in front of him. "Wait a second, I saved you last night"  
  
"Threat identified" Brainiac said blandly. He charged Clark and tackled him down the hallway into the floor corridor. Brainiac pulled his fist back and struck Clark hard in the face. He tried to attack again, but Clark caught his fist and violently pushed Brainiac off him and into the ceiling. Brainiac fell the ground, but quickly picked himself up. He extended his hand fired a blast of energy from his knuckles. The blast was powerful enough to send Clark crashing through the wall into another lab. He came down upon a large array of tubes and beakers, sending broken glass and chemicals all over the floor. Clark moved to his feet but Brainiac fired several more blasts and hit Clark in the chest with every shot. Clark stumbled back as Brainiac ran up and socked him hard in the cheek. Clark shook his head clear and grabbed Brainiac's fist. Clark held back, but he struck Brainiac hard in the face and sent him rolling across the room. Clark walked forward and picked Brainiac up by his lab coat.  
  
"You won't win this fight" Clark said.  
  
"I will because I must" Brainiac responded. He quickly backhanded Clark, sending him into the wall. Brainiac tore the lab coat off of his body and approached the dazed Clark and began to pound away at Clark's ribs. Clark grunted with each blow but managed to push Brainiac away with some force. Brainiac rolled back but quickly jumped to his feet and charged Clark again. Clark elbowed the wall behind him and sent a large section of the wall flying back. As Brainiac approached, Clark grabbed him and tossed him out of the newly made hole. Brainiac began to fall head first, but as the ground approached, he flipped over and landed on both feet. The asphalt cracked under the force of his landing, but Brainiac showed no signs of strain. Clark looked down at him for a moment before diving down towards the rogue.  
  
"Perfection must be achieved!" Brainiac screamed. He extended both hands and began to fire blast after blast at Clark. Clark maneuvered in and out of the blasts gracefully though and struck Brainiac hard in the chest. Brainiac flew back into the wall of another building. Clark watched as small bolts of electricity began to spark off of Brainiac's body.  
  
"V-v-victory is u-unattainable" Brainiac stuttered as he tumbled forward. "Plan B initiated.  
  
Back in the lab, Lex watched as the computer screen showed that an upload was in progress. She watched this curiously.  
  
Outside, Clark stood motionless as Brainiac continued to approach. Clark took a step forward to meet him and Brainiac stopped dead. He grabbed a handful of the dead skin over his left hip and yanked it off, throwing it to the ground. Underneath was a small red lever attached to a large piece of machinery. Brainiac flipped the switch.  
  
"The threat must be removed" Brainiac said. Suddenly he sprinted forward and jumped onto Clark and wrapped his hands around Clark's body with his fingers locked. Clark struggled for only a split second before Brainiac exploded. As the blast died down, Clark found himself standing with a tattered costume and a couple singed hairs, but nothing more than that.  
  
Lex heard the sound of footsteps approaching and soon was looking up at Clark. He shot the robot holding Lex hostage, and she found her hands and feet free. She rubbed her wrist with her hand to try and relieve a dull pain, which was bothering her.  
  
"Are you ok?" Clark asked.  
  
"I'm fine" Lex said. "I've had worse from ex-boyfriends."  
  
"Are you sure?"  
  
"Yes" Lex told him. Clark nodded.  
  
"If you'll excuse me then" Clark said. He zoomed off and out of the building.  
  
The next morning, Lois walked back from the employee lounge and walked up behind Clark. She placed one hand his shoulder and looked down at his computer.  
  
"What are you working on Smallville?" Lois asked as she took a sip of her freshly poured coffee.  
  
"Perry assigned me the story on the Brainiac incident" Clark told her.  
  
"What?" Lois responded. "I requested that last night when the phones came back on last night."  
  
"Well, I don't know what to tell you" Clark said. Lois scoffed and walked back to her desk. As she sat down, the elevator bell rang, and a deliveryman with a small basket of flowers walked into the pressroom. He walked up to Jimmy.  
  
"I'm looking for a…" The deliveryman said as he looked at the card with the flowers. "Clark Kent."  
  
"Right over there" Jimmy said pointing to Clark.  
  
"Thanks" The deliveryman replied with a nod. He made his way over to Clark. "Are you Clark Kent?"  
  
"Yes"  
  
"These are for you then" the deliveryman said as he handed Clark the basket and then left.  
  
"Who are they from?" Lois asked.  
  
"Lex" Clark told her. "Thanks for the fun night, hope to do it again" Clark read. Lois scoffed and got up from her desk. Clark paid no attention though.  
  
Back at Lexcorp. towers, Lex was standing at the window in her office overlooking the entire city as her assistant was recapping expenses with her.  
  
"Milton's little experiment is going to cost us Lex" her assistant said. "I've heard from legal that people are already suing"  
  
"That doesn't matter, I've got countless judges in my pocket" Lex responded without even looking.  
  
"Damages to the building have also been estimated at several hundred thousand dollars" he assistant added.  
  
"Get those taken care of immediately" Lex told him.  
  
"Ma'am, if you don't mind me saying, you seem a bit distracted" her assistant noted.  
  
"See the paper on my desk?" Lex asked.  
  
"Yes"  
  
"Look at it" Lex ordered. Lex's assistant picked up the newspaper on Lex's desk. It was the Daily Planet. On the cover was another photo of Superman under the headline "**City Saved By Superman**". "Look at him" Lex said. "He has power, incredible power."  
  
"I do not follow Ma'am" her assistant remarked.  
  
"I want his power" Lex said. "I will have his power."


End file.
